JP4789516B2 - Document conversion apparatus, document conversion method, and storage medium - Google Patents

Description

The present invention, document conversion apparatus for converting document image data into an electronic document of a predetermined document format, a storage medium in the document conversion side Honami beauty.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, image forming apparatuses such as copying machines have become multifunctional as a document conversion apparatus, and have the ability to convert a scanned image into an electronic file and transmit it to another apparatus via a network. Here, what is converted into an electronic file is a simple image file such as a TIFF format, or a document file having an electronic document format such as a word processor in which a full image is arranged on each page.

  As a next stage in the document conversion apparatus, it is considered to automatically create a table of contents and an index from a plurality of document image data and convert them into an electronic document. In this method of converting to an electronic document having a table of contents and an index, after extracting a title portion from a plurality of document image data to be converted, the extracted information is used to convert it into a desired electronic document format. Is called.

As such a document conversion apparatus, for example, character recognition of an image read by a scanner unit is performed, a document headline and a page number are extracted from the recognized character, and the extracted table is sorted in page order to display a table of contents. An image forming apparatus for outputting is known (see Patent Document 1).
JP-A-8-137909

  However, in the conventional document conversion apparatus, it is necessary to hold image data of all pages until conversion into a desired electronic document format. For this reason, when it is mounted on a device with limited storage resources, the following problems occur. That is, increasing the number of storage devices increases the cost, or it is necessary to limit the number of pages in the electronic document according to the storage resources in the device.

  On the other hand, it has been desired to improve the usability of an electronic document having a table of contents.

Therefore, the present invention provides a document conversion device that can easily convert a plurality of document image data into an electronic document having table of contents data within the limited storage resource even if the storage resource in the device is limited. , and to provide a storage medium in the document conversion side Honami beauty. Further, the present invention is a document conversion apparatus capable of improving the usability of the electronic document having a table of contents, the other object to provide a storage medium in the document conversion side Honami beauty.

In order to achieve the above object, a document conversion apparatus according to the present invention is a document conversion apparatus that converts document image data composed of a plurality of pages into an electronic document of a predetermined document format, from the document image data to a character region. A character area extracting means for extracting the document image data, converting the page of the document image data into page data of the electronic document, and extracting the character area necessary for creating the table of contents and the page of the character area Data conversion means for storing the number in the data storage means, and when the processing by the character area extraction means and the processing by the data conversion means are executed for one page of the document image data, the conversion Page data transmitting means for starting the process of transmitting the processed page data to the information processing apparatus, and the character region extracting means for all pages of the document image data After the treatment with the processing by the data conversion unit has been performed, to create a table of contents data based on the page number of the character region and the character region stored in said data storage means, further, to the created Table of contents data creation means for adding link information for linking the table of contents data item to the corresponding position in the electronic document to the created table of contents data item, and the link information created by the table of contents data creation means And a table of contents data transmitting means for transmitting the table of contents data to which the information processing apparatus is added, and the electronic document in the predetermined document format is transmitted by the page data transmitting means in the information processing apparatus. It is obtained by combining page data and the table of contents data transmitted by the table of contents data transmitting means .

In order to achieve the above object, a document conversion method of the present invention is a document conversion method for converting document image data composed of a plurality of pages into an electronic document of a predetermined document format , wherein the character area extraction means includes A character region extraction step for extracting a character region from the document image data; and a data conversion unit that converts the page of the document image data into page data of the electronic document, and the character region extraction step required for creating a table of contents. A data conversion step for storing the extracted character area and the page number of the character area in the data storage means, and a page data transmission means for processing by the character area extraction step for one page of the document image data And processing for transmitting the converted page data to the information processing apparatus is started at the time when the processing by the data conversion step is executed The page data transmission step and the table of contents data creation means store the data in the data storage means after the processing by the character area extraction step and the processing by the data conversion step are executed for all pages of the document image data. is to create a table of contents data on the basis of and the character area has and the page number of the character area, further, the link information for linking the items of the table of contents data corresponding create and corresponding position in said electronic document, A table of contents data creation step to be added to the created table of contents data item, and a table of contents data transmission means for sending the table of contents data to which the link information created in the table of contents data creation step is added to the information processing apparatus A data transmission step, wherein the electronic document in the predetermined document format is stored in the information processing apparatus in the information processing apparatus. And the page data transmitted at Jideta transmitting step, characterized in that it is obtained by combining the transmitted the contents data in the contents data transmission step.

According to the present invention, in order to link the item in the created table of contents data and the corresponding position in the electronic document of the eye, link information is added to the item in the table of contents data. The usability of documents can be improved.

According to the present invention, the usability of an electronic document having a table of contents and an index can be improved, the display can be switched to a corresponding position in the electronic document using the table of contents or the index, and the reliability of the character recognition result can be increased. The table of contents data that can be switched to the display of the corresponding title part can be created.

Further , according to the present invention, document data and table of contents data in units of pages can be transmitted one after another. Therefore, even if the storage resource in the device (document processing apparatus) is limited, a plurality of data can be stored in the limited storage resource. from the document image data can be easily performed conversion to an electronic document with contents data, and can easily be converted into an electronic document with a table of contents data and index data.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The document conversion apparatus according to the present embodiment is applied to a document conversion system in which a multifunction peripheral (MFP) and an information processing apparatus (client PC) are connected via a network.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a document conversion system according to an embodiment. This document conversion system has a configuration in which a document server 7, a plurality of client PCs 3, a scanner device 9 and a plurality of MFPs 5 are connected via a network 8. The document server 7 manages document image data and the like. The client PC 3 instructs execution of a job for converting document image data into an electronic document of a predetermined document format, and performs processing for displaying the converted electronic document. The scanner device 9 outputs document image data obtained by reading a document to the document management server 7. The MFP 5 has a scanner function, a printer function, and a facsimile function, and performs processing for converting document image data into an electronic document in a predetermined document format. Here, the document image data converted by the MFP 5 may be acquired by the scanner function of the MFP 5 or may be input from the document server 7. Examples of the electronic document converted into a predetermined document format include a general word processor document, a PDF document, a document in HTML / XML language, and the like.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the MFP 5. The MFP 5 mainly includes a scanner unit 10 and a printer unit 20. On the scanner unit 10 side, the documents fed from the automatic document feeder (document feeder) 142 are sequentially placed at predetermined positions on the document table glass 101. The document illumination lamp 102 is composed of, for example, a halogen lamp, and exposes a document placed on the document table glass 101. The scanning mirrors 103, 104, and 105 are accommodated in an optical scanning unit (not shown), and guide reflected light from the document to the CCD unit 106 while reciprocating. The CCD unit 106 includes an imaging lens 107 that forms an image of reflected light from a document on an image sensor, an image sensor 108 composed of a CCD, a CCD driver 109 that drives the image sensor 108, and the like. An image signal output from the image sensor 108 is converted into, for example, 8-bit digital data and then input to the controller unit 30.

  On the other hand, on the printer unit 20 side, the photosensitive drum 110 is discharged by the pre-exposure lamp 112 in preparation for image formation. The primary charger 113 charges the photosensitive drum 110 uniformly. A semiconductor laser 117 as an exposure unit exposes the photosensitive drum 110 based on the image data processed by the controller unit 30 to form an electrostatic latent image. The developing device 118 contains a black developer (toner). The pre-transfer charger 119 applies a high voltage before transferring the toner image developed on the photosensitive drum 110 onto a sheet. In the manual paper feeding unit 120 and the paper feeding units 122, 124, 146, and 144, the transfer paper is fed into the apparatus by driving the paper feeding rollers 121, 123, 125, 143, and 145, respectively. After temporarily stopping at the position, the sheet is fed again so as to coincide with the writing start timing with the image formed on the photosensitive drum 110. The transfer charger 127 transfers the toner image developed on the photosensitive drum 110 onto a transfer sheet to be fed. The separation charger 128 separates the transfer sheet on which the transfer operation has been completed from the photosensitive drum 110. The toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 110 without being transferred is collected by the cleaner 111.

  The conveyance belt 129 conveys the transfer sheet on which the transfer process has been completed to the fixing device 130 and fixes it by heating, for example. The flapper 131 controls the transfer path of the transfer sheet on which the fixing process has been completed to one of the arrangement directions of the sorter 132 and the intermediate tray 137. Further, the feeding rollers 133 to 136 feed the transfer sheet once the fixing process is completed to the intermediate tray 137 by being reversed (multiplexed) or non-reversed (both sides). The refeed roller 138 transports the transfer sheet placed on the intermediate tray 137 to the position of the registration roller 126 again. As will be described later, the controller unit 30 includes a microcomputer, an image processing unit, and the like, and controls the image forming operation in accordance with an instruction from the operation unit 140.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the controller unit 30. The controller unit 30 includes a well-known CPU 411, ROM 412, RAM 413, printer controller (PRTC) 415, disk controller (DKC) 417, network controller (NTC) 419, scanner controller 421, and operation interface (I / F) 425. It has the structure connected via. A printer unit (printer engine) 20 is connected to the printer controller (PRTC) 415. A hard disk device (HD) 418 is connected to the disk controller (DKC) 417. A box (BOX) 418a in which document image data and the like are stored is assigned to this hard disk device (hereinafter simply referred to as a hard disk) 418 as a part of the storage area. A network device (NT) 420 that controls connection between the MFP 5 and the network 8 is connected to the network controller (NTC) 419. A scanner unit (scanner unit) 10 is connected to the scanner controller 421. An operation panel 140 is connected to the operation I / F 425.

  The CPU 411 is a central processing unit that controls the entire apparatus. The CPU 411 uses the RAM 413 as a work area, and executes various processes necessary for printing according to various programs stored in the ROM 412. The system bus 414 serves as a passage for exchanging data and control signals between the above-described units. The ROM 412 stores character pattern data (font data) and the like in addition to various programs. The RAM 413 or the HD 418 stores document data, document image data (image data), font data, etc., which will be described later, as well as document data downloaded from the document server 7 upon request. In addition, the CPU 411 generates character pattern data and image data (bitmap data) according to a program stored in the ROM 412, and develops it in a print buffer in the printer controller 415. As will be described later, the CPU 411 converts the document image data into an electronic document in a predetermined document format according to the document conversion program.

  The printer controller 415 outputs a print control signal generated based on the bitmap data to the printer engine 20. The network controller 419 controls the operation of the network device (NT) 420 when data is transmitted / received to / from the client computer 3 and the document server 7 via the network 8.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the client PC 3. Since the plurality of client PCs 3 and the document server 7 all have the same configuration, only one client PC 3 is shown here. A CPU 201 is a central processing unit and performs control and arithmetic processing of the entire apparatus. A ROM 202 is a read-only memory, and stores a system activation program, a basic I / O program, character pattern data (font data) for converting character codes into bit patterns, and the like. A RAM 203 is a random access memory, and temporarily stores data used for calculation by the CPU 201, calculation results, character pattern data strings converted from character codes for display, graphic data, image data, and the like.

  The input control unit 204 receives key input data (character code and control code) from the keyboard (KB) 205 and instruction information from the mouse 213, and transmits them to the CPU 201. The display control unit 206 reads out the character pattern data string stored in the RAM 203 and transfers it to the display device 207. The display device 207 receives the character pattern data string, graphic data, and image data from the display control unit 206 and displays them on the screen.

  A disk control unit (DKC) 208 controls access to the external storage device 209. As the external storage device 209, in this embodiment, a floppy (registered trademark) disk device (FD) 209a, a hard disk device (HD) 209b, and a CD-ROM drive 209c are provided. The HD 209b includes a character development processing program that reads character pattern data (font data) and font data and converts them into bitmap data, a graphic development processing program that processes graphic data, an image data processing program that processes image data, and an MFP 5 An application such as a word processor capable of editing the converted electronic document is stored. The network control unit (NTC) 210 controls the operation of the network device (NT) 211. The system bus 212 performs data transfer between the above units.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the document conversion function of the MFP. The document conversion function includes a document image analysis processing unit 302, a character recognition processing unit 303, a keyword extraction unit 304, a page data conversion unit 305, a data storage unit 306, and a footer conversion unit 307. The document image analysis processing unit 302 includes an area determination unit 302a and a title determination unit 302b. When document image data (simply referred to as a document image) 301 is input, a character area is extracted from the input document image. And the title part (heading) is determined by layout analysis. A character recognition processing unit 303 performs character recognition processing on the character area extracted by the document image analysis processing unit 302. The keyword extraction unit 304 performs a keyword extraction process included in the document from the recognition result of the character recognition processing unit 303.

  The page data conversion unit 305 receives the document image 301 and the processing results of the document image analysis processing unit 302, the character recognition processing unit 303, and the keyword extraction unit 304, and converts them into an electronic document having a desired electronic document format for each page. Perform the conversion process. The conversion result to the electronic document is output for each page as data 309 for the last page from data 308 for the first page. Data necessary for creating a table of contents and index is output to the data storage unit 306. The data storage unit 306 holds the output data until the final page conversion process is completed.

  The footer conversion unit 307 creates table of contents data and index data from the data held in the data storage unit 306, performs conversion processing to a footer, and outputs the data as footer data 310. The converted data 308, 309, and 310 are data converted into the electronic document format by the page data conversion unit 305 and the footer conversion unit 307. The data 308 of the first page includes header information of the electronic document. Except for the header information, there is no structural difference between the data on the first page and the data on and after the second page. When these page data are output in page order and the footer data 310 are combined in that order, a desired electronic document 330 is obtained. Each part of the document conversion function is realized by the CPU 411 executing a document conversion program stored in the hard disk 418, as will be described later.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a conversion processing procedure to an electronic document in the document conversion function of the MFP 5. As described above, this document conversion program is stored in the hard disk 418 and executed by the CPU 411. First, a document image (document image data) input process is performed (step S1). In this character image input process, a document image read from a document by the scanner unit 10 is input. In this embodiment, the input of the document image is performed for each sheet, but may be performed for any number of sheets. FIG. 7 shows a plurality of document images. Here, a case where a plurality (N = 10) of document images 301-1, 301-2, 301-3,... Instead of using the scanner unit 10 provided in the MFP 5, a document image read by the scanner device 9 connected to the network 8 may be input.

  A character region is extracted from the input document image by the region determination unit 302a, and a document image analysis process is performed to determine the title portion from the layout by the title determination unit 302b (step S2). Here, as a technique for extracting a character region, for example, black pixels in image data are expanded horizontally or vertically to one or more adjacent white pixels (black pixels constituting a character or a character line). For example, a method of filling the image data to identify the character area by expanding the image data so that they are connected to each other. FIG. 8 shows the extracted character area. The title portion is determined based on information such as the positions of the extracted character areas 371 and 372 in the document image and the size of characters in the character areas. The size of a character is calculated | required as follows, for example. Black pixel distribution representing the count value (frequency) of black pixels projected in the main scanning direction (character line direction) over the sub-scanning direction (character string direction) for the binarized character area image data Ask for. In this black pixel distribution, the range of positions from the position where the black pixel distribution in the sub-scanning direction changes from “0” to “1” to the position immediately before the change from “1” to “0” is the character line data. The character size is determined from the character line data.

  Then, character recognition processing is performed (step S3). In this character recognition process, character recognition of the extracted character area is performed, and the result is acquired as a text code and position information. In this character recognition, an identification matching process between the extracted character region and dictionary data is performed, and a character is recognized from the distance value. Further, a keyword extraction process for extracting a word as a keyword from the result of character recognition is performed (step S4).

  Page conversion processing and information storage processing are performed (step S5). In the page conversion process, each page data of a desired electronic document is generated. At this time, the document image (document image data) is converted into a format to be compressed and arranged so that the entire page is displayed. Further, based on the position information of the character recognition result, the text code is converted into a non-display format so as to match the character position of the document image (for example, the text code is embedded in the document image with a transparent color) ). The same page conversion process is performed for each page, but the header information of the electronic document is added to the beginning of the conversion data of the first page.

  On the other hand, in the information accumulation process, the title part and keywords obtained in step S4 are accumulated together with the page number, partial image, and position information. Here, the partial images for the keyword are accumulated for index creation. However, when there are a plurality of the same keywords, the number of partial images for the keyword may be one, and it is not necessary to have a plurality of images. Further, the document image data and the character recognition result are erased without being accumulated because they become unnecessary after the page conversion process.

  The converted data (page data) for one page converted in step S5 is transmitted (step S6). It is determined whether or not a next document image has been input (step S7). If there is an input of the next document image, that is, if input of a plurality of document images is not completed, the process returns to step S1. On the other hand, if the next document image has not been input, that is, if all of the plurality of document images have been input, table of contents and index data are created (step S8). As described above, the table of contents data and the index data are created from the partial image, the character code, and the position information accumulated in step S5. At this time, the resolution of the character partial image is adjusted (resolution conversion). Then, transmission processing of footer data including the created table of contents and index data is performed (step S9).

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the structure of an electronic document. When the data (first page data 308 to footer data 310) transmitted in steps S6 and S9 are combined, the electronic document has a header, first page data, second page data,..., Last page data, table of contents data, It has a structure arranged in the order of index data and footer. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an electronic document opened by an application. Then, as will be described later, when an electronic document is opened from an application such as a word processor, the conversion below the header is adjusted so that the order is “table of contents, 1, 2, 3,..., Last page, index”. .

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the table of contents and index data creation processing procedure in step S8. Since the creation of the table of contents data and the creation of the index data are performed in the same procedure, only the process of creating the table of contents data is shown here. First, the result of the character recognition process in step S3 is taken out (step S21). As a result of this process, it is determined whether or not there is a recognized character (step S22). If there is no recognized character, the process is terminated as it is, and the process returns to the original process. On the other hand, if there is a recognized character, the character recognition result is determined and its reliability is determined (step S23). The reliability of the character recognition result is obtained from information such as character similarity (dictionary data and distance value when identification matching processing is performed).

  And it is discriminate | determined whether a character similarity is more than predetermined value and reliability is high (it exceeds a threshold value) (step S24). If the reliability is low (below the threshold value), a table of contents item is created using the partial image of the title part accumulated in step S5 and the character code that is the recognition result (step S25). At this time, the display size or resolution of the partial image is adjusted according to the font used in the table of contents. Furthermore, the character code as the recognition result is drawn in a non-display manner on the displayed partial image as a text code that matches the format of the electronic document to be converted. As a result, a keyword search is also possible for the table of contents from an application such as a word processor that handles electronic documents. If the character recognition result is wrong, an accurate keyword search cannot be performed, but since the original partial image is used, it is displayed as a correct image for the user's visual recognition, and can fully serve as a table of contents.

  On the other hand, when the reliability is high (exceeds the threshold value) in step S24, the table of contents is drawn so that the text is drawn with the font corresponding to the character code without using the partial image shown in step S25, as in the normal table of contents creation. An item is created (step S26).

  The page numbers to be added when the table of contents items are created in steps S25 and S26 are those stored by the data storage unit 306. In this table of contents creation process, link information to the corresponding part (page) in the electronic document is added to the page number. Thereby, when the electronic document is opened by the application, when the user clicks the page number in the table of contents displayed, the display page is switched to the corresponding location in the electronic document.

  Then, the data created in steps S25 and S26 is added to the footer data being converted (step S27). Thereafter, the process returns to step S21 to extract the recognition result. If there is a character recognized in step S22, the same processing from step S23 is performed. On the other hand, if there is no recognized character, this processing is terminated as it is, and the processing returns to the original processing.

  As described above, the above processing procedure is similarly performed for the creation of index data. Specifically, after adding to the footer data in step S27 and creating the table of contents data, the process returns to step S21 again to start creating index data. If the reliability determined in step S24 is low, an index item is created using the partial image and the character code in step S25. On the other hand, if the reliability is high, the index item is converted using the character code in step S26. create. In step S27, an index item is added to the footer data. These processes are repeated until the creation of index data is completed. Further, when creating an index item, link information to a corresponding portion (page) in the electronic document is added to the page number.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the electronic document reception processing procedure in the client PC 3. This processing program is stored in the external storage device 209 and is once loaded into the RAM 203 by the CPU 201 and then executed.

  First, at the start of reception, a document file to be created is initialized (step S31). In this initialization process, a target file is created and opened. Then, the data generated in steps S6 and S9 is received, and a data reception process for adding to the end of the open file is performed (step S32).

  It is determined whether or not the received data is the data created in step S9 (step S33). If it is the data created in step S9, a reception end process for closing the open file and completing it as a document file is performed (step S34), and this process ends. On the other hand, if the received data is not the data created in step S9 but the data created in step S6, the process returns to step S31.

  In FIG. 6, document data conversion and transmission processing are performed in units of one page, but the converted data is not always transmitted at that timing. Depending on the processing efficiency of the transmission / reception side and the speed of the communication line through which data is exchanged, the conversion data is not sent immediately on the transmission side, but the conversion data of multiple pages is sent together by spooling as much as possible. May be. In such a case, the processing flow in FIG. 6 and the processing flow in FIG. 12 are not synchronized.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the procedure of electronic document display switching processing in the client PC 3. This processing program is stored in the external storage device 209 as part of an application such as a word processor installed in the client PC 3, and is once loaded into the RAM 203 by the CPU 201 and then executed. First, the received electronic document is opened, and a table of contents page is displayed on the display device 207 (step S41). FIG. 14 shows a table of contents page. On the screen representing the table of contents, a heading (title section) is arranged on the left side, and a page number is arranged on the right side.

  It is determined whether or not a page number (or each item in the table of contents) in the table of contents page has been instructed by a key input on the keyboard 205 or a click operation on the mouse 213 (step S42). When the page number (or each item of the table of contents) is instructed, link information attached to the page number (or each item of the table of contents) is acquired (step S43). In accordance with the acquired link information, the display page is switched to the corresponding location (page) (step S44). Then, this process is complete | finished. On the other hand, if the page number in the table of contents page is not specified in step S42 and a page switching key such as “next” or “previous” is operated, display page switching processing is performed accordingly (step S45). . Then, this process is complete | finished. The same applies to the index page, and the display page can be switched to the corresponding location (page) simply by designating the page number (or each item of the index) in the index. FIG. 15 shows an index page. On the screen representing the index, keywords are arranged in the order of “Aiueo” on the left side, and page numbers of the corresponding parts are arranged on the right side.

  As described above, according to the document search system of the present embodiment, the conversion page is transmitted from the MFP 5 to the client PC 3 for each page or a plurality of pages. Therefore, the hard disk 418 that is a storage resource in the MFP 5 (particularly, the box 418a). Can be dealt with by overwriting and saving the document image data. Thereby, it is possible to easily convert a document image composed of a plurality of pages into an electronic document having a table of contents and an index. In addition, by simply indicating the page number included in the table of contents or the index, the display page can be switched to the corresponding location in the electronic document, and a user-friendly electronic document can be obtained.

  The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment, and any configuration can be used as long as the functions shown in the claims or the functions of the configuration of the present embodiment can be achieved. Is also applicable. For example, in the above-described embodiment, when creating the table of contents and index, the management of page numbers is necessary, and the number of times of transmission / reception is reduced by transmitting all at once, so that the processing efficiency is improved. In the page conversion process, an electronic document header is created when the condition of the first page is satisfied. However, it goes without saying that an electronic document header creation and transmission process may be provided before the process of step S1 instead of performing such a process in step S5.

  In the above embodiment, the character recognition processing unit 303 is provided. However, the present invention can be realized without providing the character recognition processing unit. In this case, the keyword extraction unit 304 is not necessary. Since keywords cannot be extracted, an index cannot be created, but a table of contents can be created. That is, the extracted partial image of the title part, its position information and page number are accumulated, and in the process of step S8 for creating the table of contents data, the accumulated partial image is pasted into the table of contents, and the portion corresponding to the page number. It can be supported by adding link information to

  In the above embodiment, the footer conversion unit 307 generates the table of contents data and the index data from the stored character partial image, character code, and character position information in step S8 as described above. The resolution is adjusted (resolution conversion) (see processing in step S25). However, as a partial image, the document image 301 has a high definition and the image resolution is very high, or even if the resolution is not very high, the data size of the partial image to be accumulated is full color and increases. There is something.

  If there is not enough capacity for storing such partial images, the page data conversion unit 305 determines the recognition result in the same manner as in step S23 in step S5, and the reliability of the recognition result is determined in advance. Only when the threshold value is not reached, resolution conversion processing of the partial image to be accumulated may be performed. At this time, the efficiency of the page conversion process is somewhat reduced. Further, in step S5, in the case of a multi-value image such as a full color, binarization processing may be performed to reduce the data amount. In order to cope with this, the footer conversion unit 307 performs the following processing when selecting whether or not to have a partial image. That is, in the flowchart of FIG. 11, when step S23 is deleted and the process of step S24 is changed to a process for determining whether or not a partial image is attached to the accumulated recognition result, and attached, The process of step S25 is performed, and if it is not attached, the process of step S26 is performed.

  Further, the present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device. Although the case where the present invention is applied to the MFP has been described in the above embodiment, the present invention can be applied to various apparatuses such as an information processing apparatus capable of inputting document image data and a scanner apparatus having the document conversion function.

  In addition, an object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium storing software program codes for realizing the functions of the embodiments to a system or apparatus, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or apparatus as a storage medium. This can also be achieved by reading and executing the stored program code.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the program code and the storage medium storing the program code constitute the present invention.

  Examples of the storage medium for supplying the program code include a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a hard disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a CD-RW, a DVD-ROM, a DVD-RAM, and a DVD. -RW, DVD + RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, etc. can be used. Alternatively, the program code may be downloaded via a network.

  Further, by executing the program code read by the computer, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also an OS (operating system) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. A case where part or all of the actual processing is performed and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing is also included.

  Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion is performed based on the instruction of the program code. This includes the case where the CPU or the like provided in the board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the document conversion system in embodiment. 2 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of an MFP 5. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a controller unit 30. FIG. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of client PC3. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a document conversion function of an MFP. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a conversion processing procedure into an electronic document in a document conversion function of the MFP. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a plurality of document images. It is a figure which shows the extracted character area. It is a figure which shows the structure of an electronic document. It is a figure which shows the electronic document opened by the application. It is a flowchart which shows the production | generation procedure of a table of contents and index data in step S8. It is a flowchart which shows the reception processing procedure of the electronic document in client PC3. It is a flowchart which shows the display switching process procedure of the electronic document in client PC3. It is a figure which shows the page of a table of contents. It is a figure which shows an index page.

Explanation of symbols

3 Client PC
5 MFP (MFP)
8 Network 30 Controller Unit 301 Document Image 302 Document Image Analysis Processing Unit 303 Character Recognition Processing Unit 304 Keyword Extraction Unit 305 Page Data Conversion Unit 306 Data Storage Unit 307 Footer Conversion Unit 330 Electronic Document

Claims (10)

A document conversion device for converting document image data composed of a plurality of pages into an electronic document of a predetermined document format ,
A character region extracting means for extracting a character region from the document image data;
The page of the document image data is converted into page data of the electronic document, and the character area extracted by the character area extraction unit and the page number of the character area necessary for creating the table of contents are stored in the data storage unit. Data conversion means;
When the processing by the character area extraction unit and the processing by the data conversion unit are executed for one page of the document image data, processing for transmitting the converted page data to the information processing apparatus is started. Page data transmission means to
After the processing by the character region extraction unit and the processing by the data conversion unit are executed for all pages of the document image data, the character region stored in the data storage unit and the page number of the character region create a table of contents data based on the bets, further, contents data created link information for linking the items of the table of contents data corresponding create and corresponding position in said electronic document is added to the items of the table of contents data such created Means,
A table of contents data transmitting means for transmitting the table of contents data to which the link information created by the table of contents data creating means is added to the information processing apparatus;
The electronic document in the predetermined document format is obtained by combining the page data transmitted by the page data transmission unit and the table of contents data transmitted by the table of contents data transmission unit in the information processing apparatus. A document conversion apparatus characterized by that. Title part determination means for determining a title part from the extracted character area is further provided,
The data stored in the data storage means by the data conversion means includes the character area of the title part determined by the title part determination means, and the page number of the character area of the title part,
The table of contents data creation means, after the processing by the character area extraction means, the processing by the title part determination means, and the processing by the data conversion means are executed for all pages of the document image data, the data storage means The table of contents data is created based on the character area of the title part stored in the page and the page number of the character area of the title part, and the item of the created table of contents data and the corresponding position in the electronic document 2. The document conversion apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein link information for linking is added to the created table of contents data item . Further comprising character recognition means for performing character recognition of the extracted character region;
The data stored in the data storage means by the data conversion means includes the character area, the character recognition result of the character area, and the page number of the character area,
The table of contents data creation means performs processing by the character area extraction means, processing by the character recognition means, and processing by the data conversion means on all pages of the document image data, and then stores them in the data storage means. The table of contents data is created based on the stored character area, the character recognition result of the character area and the page number of the character area, and the created table of contents data item and the corresponding position in the electronic document 3. The document conversion apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein link information for linking to is added to the item of the created table of contents data . Character recognition means for performing character recognition of the extracted character region;
Keyword extracting means for extracting a keyword from the result of the character recognition;
After the processing by the character region extraction unit, the processing by the character recognition unit, the processing by the keyword extraction unit, and the processing by the data conversion unit are executed on all pages of the document image data, the extracted keyword Index data is created on the basis of the page number, and information for linking the item in the created index data with the corresponding position in the electronic document in which the item is described Index data creation means to be added to the data item ;
The index data created by said index data generation means, further and a index data transmitting means for transmitting to the information processing apparatus,
The electronic document in the predetermined document format is stored in the information processing apparatus by the page data transmitted by the page data transmission unit, the table of contents data transmitted by the table of contents data transmission unit, and the index data transmission unit. The document conversion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the document conversion apparatus is obtained by combining the transmitted index data . When an item of the table of contents data included in the electronic document of the predetermined document format obtained in the information processing apparatus is instructed by the user, the generated electronic in which the item is described based on the link information 2. The document conversion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a corresponding position in the document is displayed. Character recognition means for performing character recognition of the extracted character region;
Additionally and a reliability determination unit configured to determine reliability of the character recognition result,
When the reliability is equal to or lower than a threshold value, the table of contents data creation means sets the table of contents data to display the partial character image data of the character area as a display state and the character code obtained as a result of the character recognition as a non-display state If the reliability exceeds a threshold value, the table of contents data for displaying the font corresponding to the character code obtained as a result of the character recognition is generated, and the table of contents data and the electronic data 2. The document conversion apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein link information for linking to a corresponding position in the document is added to the created table of contents data item . Electronic documents of the predetermined document format obtained in the information processing apparatus, when opened by the application, the table of contents data, said page data, that you have a data structure that becomes displayed in the order of index data 5. The document conversion apparatus according to claim 4, wherein The page data transmission means outputs the converted page data when the processing by the character area extraction means and the processing by the data conversion means are executed for a predetermined number of pages of the document image data. The document conversion apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a process of transmitting to the information processing apparatus is started. A document conversion method for converting document image data composed of a plurality of pages into an electronic document of a predetermined document format ,
Character region extracting means, a character region extracting step of extracting a character area from the document image data,
Data conversion means converts the page of the document image data into page data of the electronic document, and stores the character area extracted in the character area extraction step and the page number of the character area, which are necessary for creating the table of contents. A data conversion step to store in the storage means;
When the page data transmission unit executes the processing by the character region extraction step and the processing by the data conversion step on one page of the document image data, the converted page data is processed by the information processing apparatus. A page data sending step for starting the process of sending to
The table of contents data creation means, after the processing by the character area extraction step and the processing by the data conversion step are executed for all pages of the document image data, the character area stored in the data storage means The table of contents data is created based on the page number of the character area, and link information for linking the created table of contents data to the corresponding position in the electronic document Creating table of contents data to be added to
A table of contents data transmission means, comprising: a table of contents data transmission step for transmitting the table of contents data to which the link information created in the table of contents data creation step is added to the information processing apparatus;
The electronic document in the predetermined document format is obtained by combining the page data transmitted in the page data transmission step and the table of contents data transmitted in the table of contents data transmission step in the information processing apparatus. A document conversion method characterized by the above. Computer
A character area extracting means for extracting a character area from document image data composed of a plurality of pages;
Data conversion means for converting the page of the document image data into page data of an electronic document in a predetermined document format;
Storage means for associating the character area extracted by the character area extraction means necessary for creating the table of contents with its page number and storing it in the data storage means;
When the processing by the character area extraction unit, the processing by the data conversion unit, and the processing by the storage unit are executed on one page of the document image data, the converted page data is processed as an information processing device. Page data transmission means for starting processing to transmit to
The character region stored in the data storage unit after the processing by the character region extraction unit, the processing by the data conversion unit, and the processing by the storage unit are executed on all pages of the document image data The table of contents data is created based on the page number, and link information for linking the created table of contents data item with the corresponding position in the electronic document is added to the created table of contents data item. Table of contents data creation means,
Table of contents data transmitting means for transmitting the table of contents data to which the link information created by the table of contents data creating means is added to the information processing apparatus;
Is a program for functioning as
In the information processing apparatus, an electronic document in the predetermined document format can be obtained by combining the page data transmitted by the page data transmission unit and the table of contents data transmitted by the table of contents data transmission unit. computer readable storage medium storing the program characterized.

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